Foxtons told to put itself up for sale by big shareholders

A major Foxtons shareholder has urged the London agency to put itself up for sale.

Milkwood Capital, which owns a 4% stake in the listed company, says the only way it can make real progress is by being sold.

The investment fund joins fellow shareholder Converium Capital in pushing for a sale of Foxtons, The Sunday Times reports. Between them the two investors own 10% of the firm.

Shares in Foxtons have jumped more than 11% to 43.4p in the last five days since Milkwood made its move.

£1 billion

Rhys Summerton, of Milkwood Capital, says: “If you look back, in 2015 Foxtons was a £1 billion company.

“But the public markets are no longer valuing the good work the management has done recently and the only way to extract fair value is for the board to carry out a sale process.”

Foxtons is a highly strategic acquisition target that we think would attract multiple bidders”.

Michael Rapps, Managing Partner, Converium

And Michael Rapps, managing partner at Canadian investment group Converium, says: “Chairman Nigel Rich and CEO Guy Gittins have led an impressive turnaround in Foxtons’ business over the last 18 months.

“Today, as the largest estate agent in London with a significant recurring revenue lettings book, Foxtons is a highly strategic acquisition target that we think would attract multiple bidders.”

Pole position

Last month CEO Guy Gittins reflected on a year in post by saying the agency was in pole position once again.

And earlier this month, the firm bought rival Ludlow Thompson for £10 million from its retiring co-founders Stephen Ludlow and David Thompson.

Only last week, Foxtons announced it was giving its entire branch network a digital makeover, with redesigned front windows.